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A really nice fruity treat which left my skin feeling smooth and refreshed.

I was lured through the doors of Superdrug in pursuit of their half price offer on St Ives products yesterday and, knowing I had a week off work ahead, I decided to have a quick perusal at what else they had to offer in case I could spot something I could add to my pampering sessions that lay ahead.

I almost exclusively use face masks by Montagne Jeunesse when I have my bathroom epics - glass of wine, music, various products, hair treatments, buffing, polishing, moisturising, toning, the works. But I had seen some encouraging reviews on here of Superdrug's own-brand range of face masks, which were in a similar price bracket (99p when bought individually) and, like Montagne Jeunesse, come in a sachet for individual use. They had a 4-for-3 offer on when I happened upon them, so I decided to take the plunge into the unknown (alright, I know its not exactly a religious quest but sometimes these things matter!). After all, I had saved the best part of £5 on two St Ives products so if only one of them turned out ok, I hadn't lost much. Off I toddled with a skin scrub, some make up remover wipes and four face masks, all for less than seven of your English pounds. Yes, yes I was smug.

So today is day one of my holiday and it had to start with a pampering bathroom session. Out came the mask that had tempted me the most to take Superdrug up on their generous offer, the Tropical Smoothie Self-Heating Mask

***SUPERDRUG MASKS***

These little treats come in individual foil sachets which, like Montagne Jeunesse, feature a pretty radiant-looking woman using their product. I'm not suggesting MJ launch a herd of lawyers at Superdrug, because for all its pretty and attractive, its still "does what it says on the tin" advertising.

Superdrug are against animal testing, so rest easy Thumper.

This product is paraben free and suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

***TROPICAL SMOOTHIE SELF-HEATING MASK***

This sachet is yellow, graduating from punchier to pastel hues, and a serene-looking woman can be seen towards the edge of the sachet with half her face in view, with the product neatly applied.

Now at this point, having used the product, I have to ask how these advertising women apply their masks. Because I don't know about you other females of Dooyooville, but I invariably look like some brightly-coloured bog dwelling monster. Yet again this woman has perfectly-applied, drip-less mask perfection in place. If only I knew their secret. I mean, it's almost like someone Photoshopped it.

You also see peaches on the cover and some basic info. On the back you have an elaboration - that the product contains apricot, mango and peach oils and opens pores for a deep cleanse. The fruit oils supposedly nourish and hydrate the skin, leaving it "peachy soft".

I think there was some sort of gag in there.

***ANY GOOD?***

I normally avoid heating masks as I find them runny and - in the case of one I used from MJ not long ago - looking and feeling like the living embodiment of the evil pink gloop from Ghostbusters II. But I do like fruit and I love a smoothie so I had to try this.

The sachet does have a tab you can pull to open it but for the sake of not making a catastrophic mess I always slice the top off these sachets. Inside was a bright orange, fairly runny substance. We are instructed to wash the face with warm water and leave wet, which I did, then apply and relax for 10-15 minutes.

I applied this and it was of a better consistency than the MJ alternative I tried not too long ago. It initially stayed where it was put, although over time it did start to run and gloop. The self heating element starts very quickly but not as quickly as the MJ equivalent which heated up on my hand and then went cold again by the time it was on my skin! This started to warm as I was applying it and then when on the skin continued to heat up pleasingly - it almost pushed the boundaries of being too hot but it stopped short of my panicking and washing it off.

I was impressed that the heat maintained for quite some time - I would say that there was at least some residual warmth about four or five minutes after applying, which was quite remarkable to me in comparison with similar products I have tried in the past. In that respect, this is really very good. It was a pleasant heat too after the initial very warm few seconds. However, a combination of that heat and my body heat, plus the moisture on my face, did lead to gloopy drips forming - you should really kick back with a book in the bath with this one. Don't wear it around the house and you might well find that there is just too much product in one sachet. Unless you are related to Quagmire from Family Guy and suffer from Gigantic Head Syndrome. Which I doubt you do. Stick it on, grab a book and lean back and relax. You really don't have much choice in the matter. When I sat up and tried to do other beauty treatments at the same time this dripped a little, at one point creeping into the corner of my mouth. I love a smoothie but I draw the line getting my five a day by eating a face mask! So be careful not to over apply just for the sake of using the whole sachet.

The scent of this is lovely. Its not overly sweet but it is genuinely fruity and this lasts. It is a relaxing scent, yet also energising in that way that only tropical fruit can be. You really can smell the mango in particular, and I love the scent combination.

After use my skin felt smooth, and the pores on my nose weren't exactly thoroughly clean but they were notably better than they had been. My skin suffered no reaction to this and there was no dryness after my bath, which can happen day to day before I get to moisturising. My moisturiser went on well and was absorbed nicely, this rinsed off quite quickly and my skin was in good condition for make up application.

All in all I really liked this. Any self-heating mask is a gloop-laden nightmare but this is one I would use again if I wanted that sort of treatment. I wasn't blown away by the results but it was a nice fruity burst and added that sensory aspect to my pampering session and it left my skin pleasantly cleansed and feeling soft. The scent and the heating formula are the main plus points of this mask and I imagine in the depths of winter it would be a real treat. At 99p, with fluffy bunnies hopping around everywhere unabused, this is a really nice effort from Superdrug and I'm pleased that I tried their masks. It far outweighs the MJ heating mask I tried before so if I ever want another mask that offers that treatment then this will be it.

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A nice mask from the new range at Superdrug

As you will all know by now I have a passion for facial masks, they are an important part to my beauty routine. They help me relax from my stress filled days plus help my skin, so a perfect combination for me! As long as I find the right ones.

Superdrug - Tropical Smoothie Self-Heating Mask:

'Turn up the heat! With a tropical blend of apricot, peach and mango oils, Superdrug's Tropical Smoothie Self-Heating Mask warms up to open pores for a deep down cleanse, while the fruit oils help to nourish and hydrate the skin - leaving skin peachy soft'

My Findings:

After already trying four of the new range of face masks from Superdrug I went back for more and picked a few different ones to try. The Tropical Smoothie mask stood out for me as I normally like the tropical scents and love the feeling of warmth. (Great on a cold wet day!)

It states that this mask will open pores for deep cleansing, nourish and hydrate the skin which should leaving your skin feeling soft and smooth. So this is what I would be finding out and hoping for! I always feel better after using a face mask, so much more re-freshed and chilled out.

Masks are pretty much straight forward using them, some ask to be applied to dry skin and some to wet. This one requires you to splash face with warm water first and leave wet. While face is still wet you need to rub/massage the product over the face leaving on for ten to fifteen minutes.

When massaging this over my face I could feel the warmth straight away which was lovely and certainly made me feel relaxed. The consistency is thinner than a mud mask and does feel somewhat watery when applying to my face, but it stuck in place and didn't slide all down my face.

Then scent for me I personally wouldn't class it as tropical the main scent was apricot which was still lovely and smelt gorgeous but I kind of class tropical to have hints of coconut. While this mask was resting on my face I could still feel a hint of warmth but not a whole late which was a shame.

Once my fifteen minutes were up it was time to rinse the mask from my face, I always use a wet face flannel at this point as it make it easier to remove. Then a few splashes as water just to make sure I've removed everything and jobs done. I found this easier to remove than other masks like this.

My face felt nice and clean and that wonderful sweet apricot scent lingered for a good while too, which is always a plus in my books. To feel my face it was soft and the around my nose where I tend to get clogged pores appeared much cleaner. I did feel the need to moisturise after using this mask as my forehead seemed a little try.

Other than a little drying this mask was rather nice, I'm unsure if I would purchase it again as there is so many better ones out there. The packaging is nice and welcoming come in a foil sachet; easy to open you just rip the top open and squeeze up from the bottom. Now the down side for me is that it states packing is 'currently' not recyclable which does let it down for me. I personally like to be green as I can, where possible.

Price and Availability:

This mask is 99p which I think is great value for money, to start with they were four for the price of three however they wasn't offering this when I last went into Superdrug nor can I see it on their web site.

Overall:

For me this was just an ok mask, I've use much better ones in the past, still for what you get for 99p is great. I hope that Superdrug don't get greedy and start upping the price tags! My face felt clean and the scent was like a sweet yummy topping that could be on a cake!